•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

The last thing Arabella ever expected Klaus to be was a mass texter. And yet, here she was, with what seems like a hundred unread texts on her phone and counting. All stemming from one Nikki.

    "Klaus, I swear to God, you text more than any person I've ever met," Arabella walks into his mansion. "This better be important."

    "Go away," Klaus' voice echoes from a far corner of the room, sounding weak.

    "Go away?" Arabella scoffs, walking forward. "You're lucky I'm even here after the stunt you pulled with Bon-- Oh my God," She stops suddenly, staring down at Klaus. He leans against a piano set, shirtless and slicked with sweat as his paling face contorts in pain. "What happened to you?"

    "I need more time. Stop hounding me!" Klaus screams at her. Arabella flinches slightly at his sudden tone change.

    "Are you seriously yelling at me right now?" She glares, storming up to him. "Caroline is running the prom committee, and I promised I would help her, meaning I am here instead of at school helping. She's already texted me, like, five times since I left," Arabella waves her phone in his face. "She's almost as bad as you."

    "Arabella?" Klaus' face softens as he looks up. "Is that really you?" Arabella raises a brow down at him as he struggles up on the chair, leaning against the piano. "Prove it to me."

    "Why the hell would I--" Her mouth forms an O as realization hits. "Silas got to you, didn't he?" She kneels down by him, frowning. "What did he do to you?"

    "He stabbed me with the white oak stake," Klaus explains painfully, motioning to his back with shaking hands. "There's a- a piece of it stuck inside me."

"So you called me?"

    "Well, seeing as your the only person in this God forsaken town that doesn't completely despise me, yes," Klaus groans slightly, squinting his eyes shut from the pain. Arabella rolls her eyes.

    "And whose fault is that?" She straightens up, crossing her arms. "Why should I help you?"

    "I helped you!" Klaus growls. "Return the favor!"

    "Are you forgetting about that stunt you pulled last night?" She reminds him, narrowing her eyes down at the Original. "Pinning me against the tree to let Bonnie die? Because of you, blood is now on Caroline's hands."

    "Need I remind you that if I die, so does everyone you care about?" Klaus glares up at her. Arabella returns the glare, but after a moment, lets out an exasperated sigh.

    "Fine. But what am I supposed to do? Give you moral support?"

    "You were a surgeon before you came to Mystic Falls," Klaus remembers, shakily sitting up and looking down at a pair of bloody pliers on the floor. "Cut it out of me," Arabella stares at him speechlessly.

    "With rusty pliers?" She finally sputters out, picking up the bloody tool and staring at it in disgust. "Do you know how many infections you can get from this? Your body's already weak from the wood moving to your heart, this is just gonna speed up the process! Not the mention the pain of using this--"

"Do I look like a bloody hospital?!" Klaus barks, breathing heavily. "That's the best you're gonna get."

    "Okay, one: Stop acting like the big, scary hybrid, cause you're looking kinda pathetic right now," Arabella glares at him, getting tired of his rude tone. "And second..." She bunches her hair up on the top of her head and secures it with a hairband. "Get up. This is gonna hurt like a bitch."

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

    "Agh!" Klaus slams his hand down on the piano he braces against, pain attacking every nerve in his body. "Could you be any harsher?!"

    "Stop being a baby," Arabella mutters, squinting as she attempts to feel through his muscles and bones with the pliers. She's done procedures like this before, in her surgeon days when she specialized in trauma-- pieces of glass, or splinters of wood get stuck inside a patient's body. However, said patients are generally unconscious and not as annoying as Klaus.

"Allow me to shove a piece of wood right by your heart, see how it feels," Klaus fumes, his knuckles turning white from gripping the wood of the instrument tightly.

"Making threats while your life is in my hands? Stupid move, bud," She snorts, moving the pliers around in his skin. "I can't even feel it, Klaus. I'm thinking I snap your neck and cut open your back--"

Arabella guesses she moves the pliers a bit too quickly, because next thing she knows, Klaus is  roaring with pain and slamming his hand against the piano.

"Woah!" Arabella jerks back, glaring at him. "Stop throwing a tantrum!"

"Stop giving me orders!" Klaus yells back, his voice cracking.

"You know what?" Arabella snatches the pliers out of his body, ignoring his screams and coming around to face him. "I am helping you. Stop acting like such an ass, and show a little gratitude!"

"I don't owe you anything, nor do I need you," Klaus grumbles, his hand clawing at his back as he turns around. Arabella scoffs at his words.

"Then why call me, huh?" She snaps, waving the pliers in his face.

"Here I thought we were friends."

"No, friends don't lie to each other. Friends actually think about the other friend and don't betray and make selfish decisions," Arabella lists them off, raising a scrutinizing brow. "It's like every time I trust you, you me let down. You know how stupid that makes me look?"

"I will not apologize for you high exp--"

"--Expectations, yeah, yeah, you're a bad guy and I'm an idiot," She slams the pliers down on the piano. "What the hell do you want from me, Klaus? How am I supposed to help you if you're just gonna act like a whiny toddler who isn't getting his way?"

    "Watch your tone with me!" Klaus whips around and shouts, his patience exceeded. "Don't forget who you speak to!"

    "Do not yell at me!" Arabella screams back, jabbing a finger at his chest. She's well aware she's fighting fire with fire, but could care less at this point. "I am not one of your minions, I am not one of your siblings, and I am not someone you can just boss around! What is wrong with you?"

    "You should be thanking me. Had you been anybody else, you would've been dead long ago," Klaus sneers. Arabella let out an annoyed breath, shaking her head.

    "Threatening to kill me? Again?" She rages with flaming eyes, raising a hand to push him away from her. Klaus catches it swiftly.

    "Don't you dare lay a hand on me!"

    "Oh, screw you!"

    For a moment, the two stare each other down, breathing heavily as a silence falls over the room. Klaus, still gripping Arabella's hand, has a shock suddenly wash over him. He lets out an astonished breath.

    "It's gone," He reaches his spare hand to his shoulder, eyes wide. "The pain is gone."

    "What, did you, like, tense up and squeeze the wood out?" Arabella retorts sarcastically.

    "It was... it was never there," Klaus realizes, tongue flicking over his lips quickly. "He got in my- my head. Silas got in my head..." He gestures to his temple with two fingers, gently squeezing Arabella's hand. "You brought me back. You broke his mind manipulation, Arabella."

    "As much as I would love to take this as a win," Arabella gently slides her hand from his, brows etched together in worry. "This is bad. If Silas can make you think you're dying... I think we may have underestimated just how powerful he really is."

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

    "Tell Elijah I said hi?" Arabella smirks up at Klaus as he emerges from the hallway where he had been talking to his brother, sliding his phone into his back pocket. She lays sprawled out on the couch, reading a book she bought on her phone. "Kidding. I don't think he likes me. Don't fit his whole 'noble' agenda."

    "Nonsense," Klaus chuckles, standing beside the fireplace. He had taken a shower and pulled a Henley over his head now. "I'm sure he's rather indifferent of you," His blue eyes scan the living room, blood still laying on some surface tops. "Left the mess for me, I see?"

    "Do I look like a maid?" Arabella snorts, swinging her legs on the ground and sitting up. "Call your great cleaning lady," She stands up, giving him a tight smile. "I should get going."

    "Thank you, Arabella," Klaus walks forward, laying a hand on her arm. "For distracting me."

    "Yeah, well, if you ever need someone to yell at you, call me. It's weirdly therapeutic," She adds with a teasing smile. Klaus chuckles, hanging his head.

"Duly noted," He nods, a genuine smile sitting on his lips, two dimples pressing into his cheeks. It's almost infectious, a similar smile stretching on Arabella's own face. An awkward silence falls over them, making her very well aware of their close proximity. She quickly decides to break it.

"If you need anything, call... literally anybody else," Arabella points a finger at his chest, raising a brow. "Caroline has been blowing up my phone, and if I don't get back to school, I'm pretty sure she's gonna make me lunch. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go help plan a dance I have no interest in attending."

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Author's Note:

Sorry this chapter was really short, I kinda just wanted to add in some more Arabella and Klaus time lmao. I know this scene is a Klaroline scene (and an iconic one at that) but I decided to put a lil spin on it (but no rlly lmao).

Did you guys like the Silas storyline in TVD? Tbh I feel like Season 5 was the worst season of the show, the only good thing that came out of it was Enzo and the iconic Klaroline woods scene. I just found the whole Silas and Travelers thing really boring and unnecessary. What did you guys think of it?

Also, I'm trying to come up with a title for book 2 and I am STRUGGLING. Tbh at this point I might just go with The Sorceress(2) or something like that, at least until I figure out a better title. Literally why is coming up with a title, summary, and book cover harder than writing the actual book??? Please tell me I'm not the only one.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please vote and comment, it's always nice to see them:)<3

-Athena